Interruptible foldback (IFB), also known as interrupted foldback, interruptible feedback, or interrupt for broadcast, is a monitoring and cueing system used in

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

filmmaking Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

video production Video production is the process of producing video content. It is the equivalent of filmmaking, but with video recorded either as analog signals on videotape, digitally in video tape or as computer files stored on optical discs, hard drives, SSDs, ...

, and radio broadcast for one-way communication from the director or assistant director to on-air talent or a remote location. The names are

backronym A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...

s for the

Telex Telex is a telecommunication Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communica ...

IFB-XXX model line. Less common names for the system include program cue interrupt (PCI) and switched talkback. IFB is often facilitated using an earpiece that on-air persons wear to get cues, feedback or direction from their

control room A control room or operations room is a central space where a large physical facility or physically dispersed service can be monitored and controlled. It is often part of a larger command center. Overview A control room's purpose is produc ...

s. The earpiece itself may also be referred to as an IFB. The IFB is a special

intercom An intercom, also called an intercommunication device, intercommunicator, or interphone, is a stand-alone voice communications system for use within a building, small collection of buildings or portably within a small coverage area, which funct ...

circuit that consists of a

mix-minus In audio engineering, a mix-minus or clean feed is a particular setup of a mixing console or matrix mixer, such that an output of the mixer contains everything ''except'' a designated input. Mix-minus is often used to prevent echoes or Audio f ...

program feed sent to an earpiece worn by talent via a wire, telephone, or radio receiver (audio that is being "fed back" to talent) that can be interrupted and replaced by a

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon acce ...

's or director's intercom

microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic (), or mike, is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and publi ...

. On a

news program News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either video production, produced local programming ...

for example, a producer can talk to the news anchors, to tell them when they are live on the air and when to begin reading off the script on the teleprompter or cue cards. In

live television Live television is a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. In a secondary meaning, it may refer to streaming television where all viewers watch the same stream simultaneously, rather than watching vide ...

, some news anchors are seen listening to IFBs in order to report

breaking news Breaking news, also called late-breaking news, a special report, special coverage, or a news flash, is a current issue that warrants the interruption of a scheduled broadcast in order to report its details. News broadcasters also use the term ...

and announcements. In electronic news gathering (ENG), the IFB can be sent through a

telephone hybrid In analog telephony, a telephone hybrid is the component at the ends of a subscriber line of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) that converts between two-wire and four-wire forms of bidirectional audio paths. When used in broadcast faci ...

, or some other return link in a broadcast auxiliary service. The physics and design of electronics cause time delays in signals as they travel through wire, fiber optics, or space and when they are converted back and forth from physical sound, electronic signals, radio waves, and from analogue to digital. The latter process and other audio processing can introduce unacceptable delays or echos into the sound. To achieve the mix-minus program to the IFB, certain audio elements that originate remotely from the mix point will be eliminated from the mix that is sent back to the IFB at the remote site to avoid those undesirable effects. Wired or wireless in-ear monitors (IEMs) may be used to carry the IFB audio to the on-air talent.

References

Broadcast engineering Television terminology {{filmmaking-stub

See also

References